After our flight delay we had two full days left in London, and we spent virtually all of it with family. Saturday, Sept 21 We took it easy Saturday morning, making plans to check out a few...
Blog posts from hotel
Europe Spring 2024: a weekend in Palma, Mallorca
While there are a lot of areas to explore in Valencia we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a weekend getaway. Initially we considered options that were a reasonable train ride away, but...
European Spring 2024: Madrid, pt 1
We arrived in Madrid after a turbulent overnight flight in business class. I think Leandra was glad to be off that plane! Even though we had a metro card we could recharge, we decided to take an...
European Spring 2024: 30 hours in Chicago
Our flight to Spain left Chicago O'Hare on Monday, so we decided to position ourselves in the city on Sunday just in case of travel delays. Unfortunately, Southwest only had an early Sunday morning...
San Diego 2023: introduction
Most years pre-COVID, Eric would get work approval to attend the PAG conference in San Diego and I would tag along. I typically worked while Eric was spending the day in sessions and this time my...
Grand Cayman: Kimpton Seafire Resort
The main reason to go to Grand Cayman was to use two free night certificates from IHG that were expiring. After investigating several California properties, we decided we'd rather go to the...
Namibia: Otjiwarongo
The drive from Omaruru to the Hadassa Guest House in Otjiwarongo was straightforward and full of warthog sightings! He was not in a hurry or his tail would be straight up! Upon arrival, we were...
Namibia: Roidina Safari Lodge
As requested in their pre-arrival email, we called the lodge from the winery to give them a heads up on our arrival time, and they said they were expecting us. From the gate it's a about a 15 minute...
Namibia: Moon Mountain Lodge
By the time we returned from the Water Kloof hike our bags had been delivered to our room, so after a refreshing welcome drink of sparkling lemonade we headed over. Our tent was quite large, bigger...
Namibia: Desert Camp
After gassing up and a quick lunch in Solitaire we completed the rest of the (very bumpy) drive to our accommodations for the next two nights — Desert Camp. We were assigned the last unit on the...
Dublin: where we stayed
For whatever reason, hotels were quite pricey for the weekend we were in Dublin and we weren't finding any good deals near the river. Leandra found a great rate on a car rental, so I expanded the...
Vietnam 2016: living cheap in Hue
The Vedana Resort graciously allowed us to take their free shuttle into Hue, which was appreciated, but for some reason we stopped at a different hotel. It seemed like our driver wanted us to drop...
Vietnam 2016: hotel in Hoi An
Originally we planned to stay at the Goda Boutique Hotel, halfway between town and the beach. However, as we were packing for our trip we noticed the weather looked like it was going to be cloudy...
Beijing 2015: Introduction
Earlier in the year Leandra went to Hong Kong because of a good airfare deal and to keep her Platinum status for 2016. After that, she needed another long trip and Beijing was pricing well for...
Auckland: where we stayed
For our four nights in the Auckland area we stayed at the Abaco on Jervois, and we quite enjoyed our stay. We had an executive studio room on the second floor with lots of space, including a...
Scandinavian summer weekend: Bella Sky Comwell
Bella Sky Comwell We landed in Copenhagen around 10:30am, quickly cleared customs, and picked up our 72 hour city card before locating the hotel shuttle. The shuttle ride took less than ten minutes...
Nusa Dua: Grand Hyatt
We wanted to be relatively close to the airport for our final night, and since I had a free night with Hyatt, we decided to stay at the Grand Hyatt in Nusa Dua. I'd seen the Nusa Dua area described...
Candidasa: Puri Bagus Candidasa
The word that comes to mind with the hotel is weird. Enough that we made a list during our stay: When we arrived around 12:30pm the two men at the front desk seemed confused to see us and even more...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London, UK (Dec)
Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)